Conventional plastic shortenings are essentially composed of high- and intermediate-melting solid fats or mixtures thereof, e.g., "hardstocks", and liquid oils which have been processed by various techniques which make the product plastic and workable at room temperature. Hardstocks and hardstock stabilizers are incorporated into various other food products, in addition to conventional plastic shortenings, including, but not limited to, fluid shortenings, frostings, icings, and peanut butter. Thus, it is well known in the art that certain kinds of fat crystals, most notably the beta-prime crystals, have the capacity to form a rigidly interlocking structure when suspended in a liquid component if the solids are present in sufficient amounts.
It is, therefore, important that the hardstocks or stabilizers added to food products be of the proper crystal type. For example, a shortening that contains solids that transform or recrystallize into the beta crystal phase often tends to produce graininess. To provide the most acceptable commercial plastic shortenings which have good creaming ability and retain their appearance, volume, and performance characteristics under expected storage conditions, it is necessary that the solid glycerides crystallize and remain in the beta-prime crystal form
In general, the method of attaining the beta-prime crystal form desired for various food products is to add a suitable beta-prime-tending hardstock or hardstock stabilizer. These conventional beta-prime tending type hardstocks or stabilizers are produced from palm oil, cottonseed oil, rapeseed oil, corn oil, peanut oil, and certain fish oils. These hardstocks, however, contain 20%-30% glycerides which are not beta-prime stable, for example, tristearin, tripalmitin, and 1,3-diglycerides, which are deleterious to product performance These glycerides, and most others, are not stable in the beta-prime crystal phase. Conventional hardstocks, which contain such glycerides, will undergo polymorphic transformations and crystal size changes upon storage and/or upon temperature variations. This results in poor appearance, volume and performance in food compositions which contain such hardstocks.
The present invention consists of a new uniquely stable beta-prime hardstock which exhibits superior beta-prime stability and yields improved texture, stability, oil retention, and/or flavor display when incorporated into various food products. This is achieved by creating the significantly more beta-prime stable hardstock of the present invention by tailoring the triglyceride molecules to position-specific compositions by the processes such as those described herein.
It is therefore an object of this invention to create an improved beta-prime stable hardstock exhibiting superior product appearance, texture, taste, and/or flavor display.
It is another object of this invention to provide a beta-prime stable hardstock which exhibits excellent compatibility with other beta-prime-crystal-tending hardstocks such as fully hydrogenated high-erucic acid rapeseed oil and high-behenic acid rapeseed oil, along with good compatibility with reduced- or non-caloric fats which are either non-digestible or are only partially-digestible.
It is an additional object of the present invention to provide a beta-prime stable hardstock which, when incorporated into shortening or peanut butter, more effectively entraps liquid oil components, thereby providing improved storage stability of the peanut butter and the shortening even at elevated temperatures (90.degree. F.-100.degree. F.; 32.degree. C.-38.degree. C.) or even when the hardstock is incorporated into the food products in reduced concentrations.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a beta-prime stable hardstock which, when incorporated into conventional plastic shortenings, yields a plastic shortening which exhibits a significant reduction in crystal size having improved creaminess and texture.
It is likewise an object of this invention to provide a beta-prime stable hardstock which, when incorporated into shortenings, allows the use of less intermediate melting constituents (which are generally high in saturated fatty acids) and thereby yields a high quality shortening with a reduction in saturated fatty acid content.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide a hardstock which, when incorporated into peanut butter, will yield a peanut butter exhibiting reduced stickiness in the mouth of consumers upon ingestion and will enable the production of a soft textured peanut butter exhibiting improved storage stability and reduced oil separation.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a hardstock which may be used as a base or stabilizer in various cosmetic and pharmaceutical formulations.
These and other objects of the invention will be made clear by the disclosure herein.
All percentages and ratios are by weight unless otherwise indicated.